Small Utah ISP firm stands up to ‘surveillance state’

http://rt.com/usa/utah-isp-surveillance-state-corporations-925/

by DiabloD3 • 13 years ago

257 51 13 years ago

ryankshaw• 13 years ago

the owner of that company, pete ashdown, is an outright great guy. he even tried to run for a senate seat last election[1] -- without PAC $ and a focus on passing a constitutional amendment to overturn citizen's united. But instead utah got stuck with good ol' Orrin Hatch, which was one of the chief proponents of building the NSA datacenter in bluffdale that is going to store all the stuff collected by PRISIM et. al. [2]

the world needs more Pete Ashdowns and more Xmissions.

1. http://peteashdown.org/archive/2012/ 2. http://www.nextgov.com/big-data/2013/06/utah-senator-who-pus...

hamburglar• 13 years ago

Does kickstarter allow political campaigns as projects? :)

fixxer3• 13 years ago

the world needs more Pete Ashdowns and more Xmissions.

Yes sir, we do.

Also, fun fact for the tin foil hat crowd: Pete is Mormon.*

*EDIT: I've heard too much "Mormons run the NSA/CIA" BS lately. I'm not Mormon and I think their faith (like most) is absolutely whacky, but I can't say I've ever met one that I didn't like. I know, I know: crass generalization... but damn if it ain't true.

yaddayadda5• 13 years ago

Off-topic

"...I can't say I've ever met one that I didn't like." - Unfortunately, I've met a few that really forced their faith on others. However, several of my very best friends and honorary family members are very devout LDS members. While we disagree about religious tenets, we have extreme respect for one another and would defend the other's right to disagree to the death, without hesitation.

some17• 13 years ago

Actually he isn't mormon, just raised mormon like so many SLC residents.

Osiris2• 13 years ago

It is curious that his religion would come up. If an individual is Catholic or Protestant, no one brings it up. If you're Mormon it suddenly becomes a topic of conversation.

I take that to mean that most people have heard of us (Mormons) but don't really know much about our belief system, other than we send out young guys in white shirts to knock on your door.

sounds2• 13 years ago

Don't forget Hatch's "contributions" to the US run back decades.

1. The shuttle solid rocket boosters were built in Utah. Hatch is credited with bringing that pork to Utah. Otherwise, the boosters could have been built somewhere along a waterway and floated down to the vehicle assembly building, but coming from Utah they have to be built in pieces and shipped overland. Thus the need for an O-ring where the pieces fit together. Politics contributed to the Challenger disaster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disas...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Solid_Rocket_Boo...

(I admit, all politics are debatable, and there were other contributing factors in the Challenger disaster, but shipping the SRBs from Utah is just stupid, in my opinion.)

2. Pro-bailouts, pro-debt, and extremely pro-copyright:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrin_Hatch#Political_position...

rz2k• 13 years ago

I think this[1] was one of his most remarkable attempts to contribute to the information age.

[1] http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2003/06/59305

LoganCale• 13 years ago

Orrin Hatch wanted to make it legal for intellectual property holders to remotely destroy the computers of pirates.

Mr Hatch said damaging computers "may be the only way you can teach someone about copyright".
"If we can find some way to do this without destroying their machines, we'd be interested in hearing about that," Mr Hatch said. "If that's the only way, then I'm all for destroying their machines."
He said if a few hundred thousand people suffered damage to their computers, the online community would realise the clampdown was serious.
"There's no excuse for anyone violating copyright laws," Mr Hatch added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2999780.stm

mistermann• 13 years ago

Look at how powerful America is today, and imagine how powerful it would be if it was run pragmatically every step of the way. Long term, the world might be a better place because of people like Orrin Hatch.

letney• 13 years ago

Without reading the headline, I knew it was Xmission.com.

The founder/owner, Pete Ashdown, was the sole Democrat running against Orin Hatch in 2006. He failed to get the democratic nomination in 2012.

Pete has long been an advocate of digital privacy and is a true Internet pioneer.

yaddayadda5• 13 years ago

In addition to the praises from @ryankschaw & @letney's, Pete is involved in a lot of local causes and provides free internet to many organizations.

I've been with Xmission for the better part of a decade now, and the service they provide has almost always rocked. On the rare occasion when it didn't, their service department did rock, keeping customers informed as progress was made - even if the problem wasn't under Xmission's control (for example, at one point I was connected via a phone line which got cut - they actually followed up with the phone company and would call my cell phone to give me updates).

jlgaddis• 13 years ago

I work for a small ISP and pretty much "run the show". Since joining the company, I've been successful in getting approval from the owners on what I feel are appropriate retention policies and such. There's still a lot to be done but my hope is to someday be running our operation very similar to how Mr. Ashdown is running his.

I think I'll sign up w/ Xmission for a hosting account for a few months (even though I have no need for it) as a show of support.

msg• 13 years ago

I had Xmission in Utah. They were a great ISP to boot. I miss them.

vyrotek2• 13 years ago

I too came to comment about how I knew it was XMission before I clicked and wanted to mention the great things Pete Ashdown has been up to. But, I see others have already covered that.

While we're on the topic. Pete, please expand Utopia Fiber to Lehi! You promised :) [0]

[0] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/shuzq/iama_isp_owner_w...

xahrepap• 13 years ago

+1 for Utopia in Lehi :)

Off topic: I see you went to Neumont University. Cool to run into a fellow Neumie.

JRobertson• 13 years ago

I'll third that request for fiber in Lehi and also claim some Neumont pride.

vyrotek2• 13 years ago

Well, Hello! I was cohort 9.

I also tapped into our local NSA data center and found your identity. I sent you a LinkedIn invite :)

mikemoka2• 13 years ago

When I realize, after reading these stories, that I read them on "RussiaToday" I always feel a bit sad.

A former advisor to Vladimir Putin, has labeled the channel as "the best Russian propaganda machine targeted at the outside world" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network))

These news are important here, but we have to be careful not to associate concepts like "freedom of speech" and "example of democracy" with countries like Russia, given the actual situation the people there live under I am not sure we can say Russia holds human rights in the highest regard in my opinion.

eco• 13 years ago

Concerns of RussiaToday are warranted but in this case they are just parroting NPR [1] who in turn are repeating a story by The Salt Lake Tribune [2] (but NPR actually bothered to credit them).

1. http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/07/10/200482... 2. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/56544384-90/administra...

ggchappell• 13 years ago

Concerns of RussiaToday are warranted but in this case they are just parroting NPR ....

The RT article claims they did at least some some original investigation. FTA:

] Owner Pete Ashdown told RT that every data collection request stops at his desk, ....

hondje• 13 years ago

Attacking the source of this article and the country of its origin contributes little to the conversation.

noir_lord• 13 years ago

Actually considering the source of any article can add a great deal to the conversation.

Opposing viewpoints, media bias (intentional or not), nationalist issues etc.

uchi• 13 years ago

Russia Today is the equivalent of Fox News in America. Keep that bias in mind as you browse their other articles and videos.

Russia Today is exceptionally critical of American politics, and their international video newscasts are pretty much dead center criticisms of America. They barely mention Russian affairs, if at all. Whenever I catch a glimpse of them on MHz WorldView I have to change the channel.

dsl• 13 years ago

For the most part RT is just like Voice of America or France 24. It produces foreign language content almost solely for the goal of influencing opinion abroad.

It is just as fair as calling into question a story from Iran's Press TV.

rdtsc2• 13 years ago

When I realize, after reading these stories, that I read them on "RussiaToday" I always feel a bit sad.

Why?

"the best Russian propaganda machine targeted at the outside world"

I trust RT with issues outside Russia's geopolitical influence. See they have it easy then, they don't have to lie. Just have to tell the truth that CNN and NBC are not telling. So they are pretty good with that. Al-Jazeera is good for news outside Qatar and its close neighbors and so on.

mikemoka2• 13 years ago

Why?

Because it looks like an instrumental use of these events.

"the best Russian propaganda machine targeted at the outside world" I trust RT with issues outside Russia's geopolitical influence, they don't have to lie.

The problem with propaganda is that they don't only emphasize the desired facts, they even blatantly twist some of them.

mladenkovacevic• 13 years ago

These news are important here, but we have to be careful not to associate concepts like "freedom of speech" and "example of democracy" with countries like Unites States of America, given the actual situation the people there live under I am not sure we can say United States of America holds human rights in the highest regard in my opinion.

Is it frightening to you that this also makes sense? So I guess we'll have to get all our news from Wikileaks from now on.

forgottenpaswrd• 13 years ago

Well, of course RussiaToday is Russian propaganda, the same way that CNN, or NewYorkTimes are propaganda of American empire.

It is very simple, there are big news Institutions that power will dominate, one way or another, like infiltrating people in key positions, or with laws that make collaboration with Government a benefit, and non compliance a great cost.

Do you know that when Snowden talked with people in media like the Washington Post, the first thing they did was to report to the NSA and FBI?

While the situation in Russia is absolutely bad, in relative terms it improves, while in the US you used to be free, in relative terms the police State grows by the second.

oceanstone• 13 years ago

I just talked to XMission's chat representative. They support Ubuntu! I'm switching over soon.

onli• 13 years ago

Read it the right way. The described behavior is the right thing to do, brave and patriotic. But two things will happen here:

1. It will not be forgotten. The behavior to resist those warrants will result probably in imprisonment, and in every case it will be made sure he doesn't get more power. Source is that case: http://www.atlassociety.org/brc/blog/2013/06/10/was-telecom-...

2. The data is accessed anyway, the suggested way of doing that as far as was disclosed to infiltrate the company, either by using a mole or a backdoor (sure, both is possible). At least that would happen if it were an ISP outside of the USA, I don't believe they make that distinction anymore.

magicalist• 13 years ago

Er, so, not rolling over for bullshit requests is a very good thing (telcos take note), but I'm not seeing a difference here from any company that doesn't comply with improper requests, but does comply with "proper" ones, just a matter of scale:

"The government began sending data requests to Ashdown 15 years ago but the entrepreneur, who launched his business in 1993, acquiesced just once - at the advice of his lawyer. He agreed to hand over the data only after receiving an FBI request accompanied by a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2010. Local governments and police in Utah were behind most of the other formal inquiries that he received."

(except that he confirms that he received and complied with a FISA order)

jtsnow• 13 years ago

As a wee lad, I uploaded my first bits of HTML onto Xmission's shared hosting in 1997. Good memories. Thanks to them, I didn't have to succumb to Geocities advertisements.

A few years ago, they launched a cloud platform: http://www.stackable.com

sliverstorm• 13 years ago

What do you know, it's my old favorite mirror for linux distros.

prbuckley• 13 years ago

If you don't live in Utah how can you support this guys business? I commend him for standing by his principles.

fsckin• 13 years ago

Shared or VPS hosting, for one.

http://xmission.com/hosting

runn1ng• 13 years ago

The second I hear "XMission", I remember Maddox's website (http://maddox.xmission.com/).

Maybe I spend too much time on the internet.

kennethcwilbur• 13 years ago

I admire this man for his willingness to stand by his convictions.

bound008• 13 years ago

This is the same xmission as in http://maddox.xmission.com/ a wonderful tribute to the first amendment.

Small Utah ISP firm stands up to ‘surveillance state’

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